The Waterfall's Gift

Far above me, there are cliffs of dark wet rocks that almost touch the sky. From these cliffs the water leaps downward, tumbling and foaming, to melt into the wide green pool below. Richard Jesse Watson's illustrations are the highlight of this poetic journey into nature. Page after page of stunning artwork mingles with a story of a girl in search of her past. She thinks about her grandfather building a small cabin in the woods and family trips when the days get long and hot. There are pictures of her family journeying northwards to seek out treasures. She watches hawks circling in the sky and finally they arrive at the cabin and push open the windows. Soon, the adventurous girl finds her way into a forest filled with animals hiding at the edge of the pages and finally runs to the stream where she dangles her toes in the water. After eating "pawfuls" of berries, she wanders to the magnificent waterfall and then climbs to warm rocks sprinkled with sunlight. She meets an otter and then starts to walk home as the sun hides in the trees. When she returns to the cabin she looks up at the clouds and imagines they look like a dragon. I love the art in this book and this book will definitely inspire trips into nature. The Waterfall's Gift is filled with nostalgia, wonder and an appreciation for nature. ~The Rebecca Review

In The Waterfall's Gift, when a young girl visits to the cabin that her grandfather built, she re-discovers the familiar woodland haunts she and her Grandpa was visited together. But Grandpa is gone now and as she wanders through the forest she feels a comforting sense of oneness. Joanne Ryder's superbly engaging story of loss and renewal amidst a natural setting is richly enhanced with the museum quality paintings of Richard Jesse Watson. The Waterfall's Gift is very highly recommended for all young readers, but most especially for those children struggling to deal with personal and family loss in the lives. Every school and community library in the country should have The Waterfall's Gift available in their collections of picturebooks for young readers.